The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy maintains this blog to disseminate information relevant to astronomers who identify as women. If you have an idea for a blog post or topic, please submit to wia-blog at lists.aas.org.
The views expressed on this site are not necessarily the views of the CSWA, the AAS, its Board of Trustees, or its membership.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

The AAS President, Christine Jones, has issued a statement in response to the events in Charlottesville. That statement can be found here:

https://aas.org/posts/news/2017/08/message-aas-president-charlottesville She has also sent a letter to Congressional Leadership about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. You can read the letter here:https://aas.org/posts/letter/2017/09/letter-congressional-leadership-aas-president-daca

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Today we re-post "Mental Illness/Wellness and Your Career – LPSC WiPS Event Summary 2017" from the Women in Planetary Sciences blog. It appeared on June 6, 2017, and summarizes a presentation by Holly Doggett, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) at the the 9th Annual LPSC Women in Planetary Science Susan Niebur Networking Event, and notes from the subsequent questions and discussions.

Contributed by Nicolle Zellner, Mallory Kinczyk, and Lillian Ostrach

In March, the 9th Annual LPSC Women in Planetary Science Susan Niebur Networking Event was held. Holly Doggett, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Texas spoke to us about mental illness/wellness and its effect on careers. One in five American adults experiences some form of mental illness in any given year, and across the population, one in every 25 adults is living with a serious mental health condition such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or long-term recurring major depression. During her presentation, Holly told anecdotes and suggested coping strategies for instances when we might be affected by changes to our mental wellness.

AAS President Christine Jones, in consultation with the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy and the Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy, sent a letter about DACA to Congressional leadership.

I am currently doing research involving two surveys about women in STEM. I’d like as many people as possible to see this because the populations I’m looking for are unique. One survey will assess the experience of women in STEM who also have been leaders: barriers, support, path, etc. The other survey will update the work (http://www.physics.wm.edu/dualcareer.html) by McNeil and Sher (1999) on couples who are both scientists.

To participate in research on women in STEM with leadership experience, please go to the anonymous link at:

On the weekend of January 12-14, 2018, the University of Kansas Department of Physics and Astronomy will host a regional American Physical Society (APS) CUWiP meeting for undergraduate physics and astronomy majors in the central region of the United States. Our region includes Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The APS CUWiP is a series of regional conferences held simultaneously around the United States for undergraduate women interested in physics and astronomy. The goal of this conference series is to encourage undergraduate women to pursue a career in physics or astronomy by giving them the experience of a professional conference. This includes networking with women in physics of all ages and professional levels, plenary talks by prominent women in physics, and panel discussions providing information about graduate school and career opportunities in physics.

The American Geophysical Union’s Ethics Task Force spent over a year developing a new ethics policy. “This policy takes a much stronger stance against harassment by including it in the definition of research misconduct and expanding its application to AGU members, staff, volunteers, and non-members participating in AGU-sponsored programs and activities including AGU Honors and Awards, and governance.”

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

I have never been a story teller. I’ve
never developed the flair, pacing, and audience connections needed to tell a
good story. So when I attended the “Women in Business – Transitioning to
Leadership” workshop at the University of North Carolina’s (UNC)Kenan-Flagler
Business School in May, I wasn’t expecting to tell a story. Dr. Heidi Schultz, Clinical
Professor of Management and Corporate Communication at UNC and the facilitator of our Wednesday
afternoon session, told us that the story a speaker tells is often the only thing an audience remembers! Once I
heard that, I realized that I wanted to know more about the power of stories.

In her article for Forbes Magazine, How To Tell A Good
Story,
contributor Kristi Hedges shares the reasons why most people don’t consider
themselves good storytellers.